new and unexpected direction. president obama is tonight seemingly less the object of sympathy than the target of harsh criticism from left wing of luminaries upset with his lackluster and at times seemingly detached performance. the new york times today wrote, there are two more chances for the president to change tactics were to at least show up to the debate. president xanax just doesn't cut it. the "washington post" has written, if the obama campaign was worried about them is being overconfident going into the final stretch, tonight should allay those fears. chris matthews wind, where was obama tonight? well, his nbc colleague ed schultz admitted he was absolutely stunned by the president's dismal performance. michael moore tweeted, is bill clinton coming into some? wakeup. john mccain. the republican national committee seized on governor romney's dominance in the evening sky and the president's principal reaction to that and entitled the smirk. >> the cut the deficit in half. four years later and we have a trillion dollar deficit. my view is we ought to provide tax relief to pe

oakland i'm tara moriarty. >>> president obama will be back in san francisco later today to raise money for his reelection campaign. the president will begin today in the central valley to dedicate a national monument to caesar chavez. then he will arrive in the bay area for three fundraisers. first at the intercontinental hotel. followed by two fundraisers at the bill graham auditorium. president obama attended fundraisers in los angeles yesterday. featuring a concert. the president took a jab at his own debate performance last week. he said while the singers are able to perform flawlessly night after night he can't always say the same. >>> mitt romney meantime scheduled to deliver a foreign policy speech today at the virginia military institute. according to his prepared remarks, he will propose a new assertive role for the u.s. in syria, more sanctions on iran, and a change in the u.s. policy in the middle east. the republican nominee will portray president obama as a weak leader. >>> in overnight news back here in the bay area oakland police are investigating a shooting that happene

, turnout has gone up with a minority in the overall turnout not just in the 2008 obama election but the midterm election. if there are people out there in light of a bloody let's cut the one. you can't participate in the mainstream american life of a melody. travel, check into tell, cash a check, antar government building, rent a video. he can hardly do anything. instead the critics rather than try to help people get ideas simply yell racism further exacerbating the racial political tensions. chris dodd who crafted a bipartisan lecturer -- reform bill after the florida miltown was quoted as saying the goal of american law should be to make it easy to vote and hard to achieve. we are americans. we can do both. to civil rights. one is the right to never be prevented or intimidated from voting. we had a history in many states. poll tax, literacy test, bizarre registration hours. we passed the civil rights law to prevent that. the second city right not to have your vote canceled up by someone who is an illegal alien, and died, voting twice, or someone who does not even exist. that to file i

virginia military institute aiming to put pressure on president obama by portraying him as a weak and ineffective figure on the world stage. the 30-minute speech entitled the mantle of leadership will focus on a vision of peace through strength as in the tradition of harry truman and ronald regan. in prepared remarks released to the media the republican candidate is expected to address missteps in libya and talking about the deadly attack on bengha benghazi. he will say as president he would partner with other nations to help arm the rebels who are fighting assad's government. >>> on our relationship with egypt, romney will make the argument that u.s. aid should be tied to the egyptians upholding their peace treaty with israel. with growing tension over iran's nuclear program, mitt romney says he will not hesitate to put forces in the eastern mediterranean and the gulf region. the obama campaign is downplaying the speech describing romney over the weekend as, quote, an unmitigated disaster on foreign policy and the only person who has offended europe more is probably chevy chase. >>>

obama like you have never heard from him before. a video has been uncovered from a campaign event in 2007 of then candidate obama, speaking before an audience of african-american ministers, including the reverend jeremiah wright. the tape was obtained exclusively by the daily caller web site. but you are about to see it right here on "hannity" for first time. it contains some of the most divisive class warfare and racially charged rhetoric ever used by barack obama. portions of the nearly 40-minute speech can be found online in an edited video, shot by the daily press newspaper in hampton, virginia. however, that version runs only about 9 minutes and omits the most inflammatory comments. it also does not include any references to reverend wright. in addition, it was covered by other mediautelets, including the associated press and local television stations. but the most outrageous comments were completely ignored, further proof that the mainstream media has been in the pocket of barack obama since he day he arrived on the national stage. let's take a look at what the left-wing press

today. and there is president obama spent the morning in denver before heading to wisconsin for an afternoon rally. >> mitt romney saying you're not entitled to makeup your own facts. we've checked on what both had to say and whether or not it was factual. biggest dispute was over tax autos governor romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut. >> i don't have a $5 trillion kachl tut can you tell. >> governor romney's proposal calls for a $5 dwrinl tax cut. >> i'm in the looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. >> fact check? the president is wrong to say romney's plan will add $5 twrinl to the deficit. romney said as he did last night the plan to lower the rate will be offset by closing loopholes and limiting deductions. and romney won't identify which loopholes or deduction. and concluded it's not possible to find enough loopholes and deductions. romney criticized that study. >> he cite a study. there are six studies looking at that study you described and say it's wrong. >> studies romney are talking about are from his own backers and advisors and a former advisor to

about libya, syria, and more, but president obama hits him hard with a brand-new ad. we'll show it to you. >>> winter weather now. many parts of the country will make up this morning to an arctic blast from the north. bill's forecast is straight ahead. >>> and 48 straight. drew breess into the record books. this is a big one. >> this is "early today" for monday, october 8th, 2012. >>> very good morning to you, i'm veronica de la cruz. 29 days and counting. there is less than a month to go in the race for the white house, and right now, both candidates are on the road. while the president campaigns in california, mitt romney spent sunday in florida before his major foreign policy speech in virginia today. nbc's tracy potts that is details from washington. good morning. >> reporter: hi, veronica, good morning. even with those jobs numbers that came out friday helping president obama, we are still seeing mitt romney with a boost after the debate, and today he will argue that under the president, america is weaker against enemies abroad. mitt romney gives a big foreign policy speech in vi

, syria, and more, but president obama hits him hard with a brand-new ad. we'll show it to you. >>> unhitched. two philly wedding celebrations descend into cha as the attendees start brawling. >>> and 48 straight. drew breezes into the record books. this is a big one. >> this is "early today" for monday, october 8th, 2012. >>> very good morning to you, i'm veronica de la cruz. 29 days and counting. there is less than a month to go in the race for the white house, and right now, both candidates are on the road. while the president campaigns in california, mitt romney spent sunday in florida before his major foreign policy speech in virginia today. nbc's tracie potts joins us now live from washington. good morning. >> veronica. good morning. let's talk about the speech. in it today he tries to draw distinctions. we've seen an advanced copy where mitt romney will now argue america is now weaker against our enemies abroad. mitt romney gives a big foreign policy speech in virginia today, but over the weekend in florida, he focused on taxes and president obama. >> he will ultimately

loose seats on american airlines flights. >>> political showdown. president obama and mitt romney hunker down for their high stakes debate in denver. >>> and bumpy ride. a 10-year-old philadelphia boy is arrested after swiping and a 10-year-old philadelphia boy is arrested after swiping and crashing a van. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with air scare. suspicion is swirling around american airlines after two flights in three days were returned to new york's jfk airport. the reason, passenger seats came loose on both planes. the first incident occurred on a flight from miami to boston. >> during flights, passenger seats came loose out of the floor. passengers are unable to sit in that seat. >> the federal aviation administration says seating in both plains had undergone maintenance. they have grounded eight 757s for inspection. >>> to politics where president obama and rival mitt romney will not be campaigning today, opting instead to prep for the first of the three debates that they will have starting to

, tomorrow is the first of three debates between myself and president obama. and i'm looking forward to having a serious conversation with my opponent about the issues. and asou may have heard, i've also prepared a few zingers for the occasion. [ laughter ] would you like a taste? [ cheers and applause ] for example, when we greet each other onstage before the debate, i'll put my finger on obama's tie and i'll say, "hey, there's something on your tie." [ laughter ] then, when he looks down, i'll slide my finger from his sternum right up to his nostrils, and i'll say, "boop." [ laughter ] ha ha-ha. ha ha ha ha-ha. ha ha. trust me, it's gonna be great. [ laughter ] i've also been working on some "that's what she said" zingers. [ light laughter ] for instance, when obama is talking during the debate, i'll just interrupt him and say, "that's what she said?" [ laughter ] ha ha ha. gets 'em every time. ha ha. [ laughter ] now, last week, my campaign leaked a memo telling everyone to lower their expectations for my performance in these debates because, as we all know, barack obama is an extrem

. >>> pressure point. feeling the heat after a disappointing debate, team obama comes out swinging. meantime, mitt romney gets personal and big bird breaks his silence on snl. >>> danger zone? on this football night in america, a growing fight off the field. kids caught in the middle. >>> and american classics. once the heart of millions of homes, the new efforts to give a lot of old castaways new life. >>> good evening. there may very well be more than just frost on the pumpkin where you are tonight. we start this evening with a cold blast. a dramatic and practically overnight temperature swing has turned what had been an exceptionally mild fall for most of the country into a big chill that tonight is gripping roughly two-thirds of the nation. scores of low temperature records have been broken over the last 24 hours as the mercury went from the 70s and 80s in many places down into the 30s and 40s, even below freezing. we'll get the outlook for the week ahead in a moment, but we start with nbc's michelle fra frandsen here in new york. michelle, good evening. >> good evening, lester

terrible story. why is team obama and the pentagon not helping our fighting men and women cast their absentee ballots? we will have that story. >>> the day after mitt romney politely and respectfully cleaned obama's clock president obama tried to quickly turn the page. cnbc's amin javers has more. >> reporter: the day after the debate strategy tells you which campaign this they won last night and which did not win. mitt romney spoke on tv after the network newscasts had gone on the air. that forced the tv networks through the day and the evening broadcast this is evening to use pictures from last night's debate again and again. president barack obama, however, had two rallies including one in denver, colorado where he had sort of a chance to do a do-over from last night. take a listen. >> when i got onto the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but it couldn't have been mitt romney, because the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. the fellow on stage last night

the world at the virginia military institute. the governor doesn't think that president obama is providing strong leadership. >> i know the president hopes for a safer, freer and more prosperous middle east aligned with us. i share this hope. but hope is not a strategy. we can't support our friends and defeat our enemies in the middle east when our words are not backed up by deeds. when our defense spending is being arbitrarily and deeply cut. when we have no trade agenda to speak of. the perception of our strategy is not one of partnership, but of passivity. >> kimberly: all right. do you think this is the right message and tone? a lot of discussion whether or not romney was going to come out on top on foreign policy. generally speaking, it's been one of the strong suits of president obama, given the past developments versus recent developments. >> eric: yeah, i'm not sure it was so -- i don't know. it was okay. it was good. he hit on all the point he is needed to make. he had to do it. something people said, president obama has an ad out today saying he is weak on foreign polic

support todd akin's candidacy? political showdown. president obama and mitt romney hunker down for their high-stakes debate in denver. >>> and bumpy ride. a 10-year-old philadelphia boy is arrested after swiping and then crashing a van. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> and we are going to begin this morning with air scare. suspicion is swirling around american airlines after two flights in three days were returned to new york's jfk airport. the reason? passenger seats came loose on both planes. the first incident occurred on a flight from miami to boston. >> during climb-out, rows, passenger seats row 12d, e and f came loose out of the floor. passengers are unable to sit in that seat. >> well, the federal aviation administration said seating in both planes had recently undergone maintenance. the airline has now grounded eight 757s for reinspection. >>> to politics now where president obama and rival mitt romney will not be campaigning today, opting instead to prep for the first of their three debat

obama hits him hard with a brand-new ad. we'll show it to you. >>> winter weather now. many parts of the country will make up this morning to an arctic blast from the north. bill's forecast is straight ahead. >>> and 48 straight. drew breezes into the record books. this is a big one. >>> very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. 29 days and counting. there is less than a month to go in the race for the white house, and right now, both candidates are on the road. while the president campaigns in california, mitt romney spent sunday in florida before his major foreign policy speech in virginia today. nbc's tracie pots has more in washington. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, veronica, good morning. even with those jobs numbers that came out friday helping president obama, we are still seeing mitt romney with a boost after the debate, and today he will argue that under the president, america is weaker against enemies abroad. mitt romney gives a big foreign policy speech in virginia today, but over the weekend in florida, he focused on

into that attack. you make a good point. we've had three terrorist attacks on the obama administration's watch yet they have failed to call them as such or delayed in their branding as such. fort hood where i've done an extensive investigation, how can they brand that as workplace violence. it's just dishonest to if i could take my reporter's hat on for a moment. >> that what some of us was saying. this is so obvious to someone. very quickly because i don't want run out of time but i have to ask about new information on some of the security flaws that parental were at the consulate in benghazi. you uncovered some of those security flaws. tell us what they were. >> i spoke yesterday who used to be regional security officer for the state department. this is a person who was s in charge of the security in that country for the state department personnel. this is someone who worked extensively in the middle east. he says you need to go back and look at those pictures as a consulate in benghazi. that would have been a location as a high risk of terrorist attack or high risk of

morning washington," on your side. >> president obama does not have to stay indoors during debate propel. today's the day. he will meet mitt romney for the first presidential debate a little more than a month before the election. >> and jummy olabanji will have an update on the latest deadly attack in syria. >> and who could still the spotlight from the nationals. good morning, washington. i am cynne simpson. >> i am steve chenevey. let's get to jacqui jeras for look at the weather. >> you will not able to see much this morning. since we have been on the air, visibility has really dropped significantly. advisories in maryland as well as low visibility in the metro area. dense fog this morning,. a warm wednesday with temperatures in the '80s this afternoon. big changes ahead with a big chill as we head towards the weekend. let's look at visibility across the area. under a 10th of a mile at dulles airport, three tenths of a mile at reagan national. about half mile in gaithersburg. the fog will give way to mostly cloudy skies this afternoon with a few peaks of sunshine, high temperat

the white house to start this super pac and began trying to help barack obama get reelected. and it started slow. the way to raise money is to go to donors. go to people who the donated before, to people who have shown an interest in trying to help the president. and it is a veryif you think ab, the power of his campaign in 2008, we know how much of that was fuelled by little donations, by people in this room sending $5 or $3 or whatever it is and the enthusiasm of small donors. you can do that as a super pac. you spend your time trying to raise six-figure or seven-figure checks. yes, i can find $250 for charity i am helping. but can have $1 million? that is a different thing. since then, priority usa has become very successful in raising money. more importantly, i think the priority has been an important part of setting the tone for the presidential campaign. the subject of this had a lot of influence. so we called up the ads -- .xcuse me for one sec i will show you and at the party put together. it will be the ad on the left -- not that one. as maggie said, if you just told a for

org. >>> romney's reform, as he prepares to debate domestic issues with president obama, mitt romney says he would allow some young illegal immigrants to stay in the u.s. >>> loose landings. two american airlines jets in three days are diverted after passenger seats come loose mid flight. >>> and striking abilities. there's more than meets the eye about this inspiring star of an online video. >> my disability doesn't define who i am. my disability gives me a challenge every day. captioning funded by cbs >>> good morning, everybody. good to be with you. immigration reform will likely be one of the key issues at tomorrow's debate between president obama and mitt romney. mitt romney says he'd honor work permits issued to young illegal immigrants issued by president obama. until now he hadn't said how he would address that issue. susan mcginness is covering it in washington. >> reporter: these are two-year work permits for these young people. romney says before they expire, he will put in a comprehensive immigration reform plan. the question now is will he give details on that at

obama foreign policy is unraveling before our eyes on tv screens. >> i think it interferes with the depiction that the administration is trying to convey that al qaeda is on the wane, everything is fine in the middle east. >> you think it's political? >> how else could you trot out our u.n. ambassador to say this was a spon ttaneous demonstrati? >> maybe they thought that at the time? >> on "meet the press" david plouffe was asked by david gregory if politics had anything to do with the administration labeling the assault as terrorism? >> the president's challenger said the president failed to level with the american people and call this a terrorist attack because you had to be concerned about another terrorist attack from al qaeda in the middle east after the president said that al qaeda had been defeated. >> that's preposterous and offensive to say that. as information was received from the intelligence community, it was distributed this president's record on terrorism takes a back seat to no one. >> was this an intelligence failure? >> no this was a complex event. we're only talk

address the differences between himself and his republican counterpart. a week after president obama's lake laughter performance in his debate with mitt romney. >>> kid rock is joining republican vice presidential candidate paul ryan on the campaign trail today. the singer is attending a rally tonight in rochester, michigan. this isn't the first time he's attended gop events. kid rock attended a fund-raising event in michigan in august. he was also at the republican national convention in tampa. >>> it's not raining but it is still cloudy. >> right, it is still cloudy. the rain is still coming. temperatures today are going to be pretty low. so late fall chill, wet, damp. it might as well be yesterday, right? the weather is certainly getting our attention. that's for sure. we had our coolest start. our coldest start since april the 28th. started out at 45 degrees in d.c. other locations north and west started out in the 30s this morning. i wanted to start out by showing you the national temperatures. we're not the only ones dealing with this cold blast. 45 in chicago. minneapolis, minne

. coming up, with an audience of 50 million to impress, as romney gained ground on obama in the first of the televised presidential debates? >> it is not moral for my generation to keep spending more than we take in, knowing those burdens of will be passed on to the next generation. >> i promised i would fight every single day on behalf of the american people, the middle class, and all those striving to get into the middle class. kept that promise. >> also -- ♪ ♪ you know i love you >> 50 years since the beatles released their first single. it's midday in london, 7:00 in the morning in washington, 2:00 in the afternoon in turkey where the parliament is in an emergency session over a bill of the rise across borders military operations in syria. turkey has already retaliated to the mortar attack that killed five people in a border town. despite international calls for restraint, that military response is still going on. reports that syrian soldiers may have been killed. now this report. >> the shelling of the turkish border town by syrian forces is a cause for deep anxiety. it's not th

will create 12 million jobs when president obama couldn't. first, my energy independence policy means more than three million new jobs. many of them in manufacturing. my tax reform plan to lower rates for the middle class and for small business creates seven million more. and expanding trade, cracking down on china, and improving job training takes us to over 12 million new jobs. i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message. >>> president obama landed in los angeles about an hour ago. he's there to raise big money from celebrity supporters. he will speak at a con skert at the nokia theater where bon jovi, stevie wonder, and katy perry perform. tonight he'll speak at a $25,000 per person fund-raising dinner. that's $25,000 a person. the obama campaign is looking to build on his record-breaking month. the campaign raised $181 million in september. >>> mitt romney wrapping up a three-day campaign swing through florida where he spoke to a crowd of 12,000 today in port st. lucie. romney talked about last week's debate and said the president struggled because he can't defend his record

east. he knows president obama will take credit for ending the war in iraq and taking out osama bin laden. that is why he went after the concept of leading from behind. >> i believe if america doesn't lead, others will. others who don't share our interest and our values. the world will grow darker for our friends and for us. america's security and the cause of freedom cannot afford four more years like the last four years. >> governor romney is a former governor. part of the test for romney in the campaign is convincing voters he is ready to be commander in chief. >>shepard: the republican nominee also emphasized the terror aspect of the attack on our consulate. >>reporter: he suggested the obama team handled the overall attack and slow to call the attack "terrorism," but says the violence cannot be blamed on a video insulting islam although that is what americans were told. >> the administration has finally conceded the attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists who use violence for impose the dark ideology and others especially on women and girls. >> romney will get to contras

i think it will be a great benefit to children. >>> mitt romney and president barack obama are all cramming now for tomorrow's first presidential debate that goes off in denver. >> colorado still a tossup state and both candidates are fighting hard for the women's vote. danielle nottingham is at the debate site in denver. >> anita, colorado may help decide november's election and women are a key voting group. they make up the majority of the undecided in the state and will be tuned in wednesday night. carrie and her husband serve up yogurt and lattes for a living. the small business owner is supporting president obama, in part because she believes his healthcare reform law will help her provide insurance for her employees. >> 20% for a corporation to buy insurance. >> carrie thompson believes mitt romney has a better plan for helping small business. she is eager to hear him make that case. >> i think the economy is probably a major issue that is on theforefront of most people's minds. i hope that he spells out his stance on it. >> colorado isn't just hosting the first presidential

performance. most americans believe he trounced president obama in their first showdown. more on that in a moment. first, some of the reactions. even as the dust was settling. >> a week ago, people were saying this was over. we've got a horse race. mitt romney, his performance was head and shoulders above anything we've ever seen him do before. >> mitt romney rose to the moment tonight. in a way, frankly, that surprised me. >> it looked like romney wanted to be there and president obama didn't want to be there. >> dan lothian is in denver. morning, dan. mr. obama can't be feeling very good this morning. >> reporter: good morning. well, look, as you just played out in those sound bites, it was a big night for governor romney. some have suggested it was a make or break debate for him. he certainly showed up to fight. and voters agree he got the win in a cnn or flash poll, 67% of the voters said he won the debate. 25% saying president obama won. how did he do it? he challenged the president, never backed down even as the president appeared not to want to push back until the second half of the

relevant context for understanding what happened last night. when mitt romney beat president obama in last night's televised debate. so the first televised presidential debate that we had was in 1960. here are all of the other years that we have since have televised presidential debates. every four years now we have these debates on tv. the only years, though, so these are all the years, right, right? the only years, though, in which you had an incumbent president running against a challenger in all of the years we've had presidential debates on tv are these years. so in terms of understanding the historical context of what happened last night when mitt romney beat president obama in this first debate, this is the universe of like things to compare it to. this is how to understand it in terms of american political history. it's only these years right here. that's it. now, by definition, you never have an incumbent president in this situation more than once. presidents can only serve two terms so there's only one opportunity when they carry into that debate, when they're running for

this video we have seen before, covered extensively by the media five years ago, when obama first ran for office. those details did not stop the daily caller and some others from asserting the tape would shake up the campaign. >> people ask me whether they thought raves the reason the response was so slow. i said, well, no this administration was color blind in its incompetence. but, but everyone here knows that the disaster and the poverty happened long before the hurricane hit. >> and then the "huffington post" released what they consider their own bombshell tape, showing paul ryan at what his campaign says was on open forum, this was just last year, 2011. ryan's remarks are now being compared to romney's 47% comment. >> the good news is survey after survey, poll after poll, still shows that we are a center-right 70/30 country. 70% of americans want the american dream. they believe the american idea. only 30% want the welfare state. >> and republicans are seizing on what vice president joe biden said at a campaign event in north carolina. that set off another war of words. >> ho

poll covers the four days sibts the debate and it has romney pulling even with president obama among registered voters, 46% even. four weeks ago pew had obama up by nine among registered voters, so this has been a huge shift in the pew poll. the move in the pew poll towards romney is greater among likely voters. romney is surging ahead to 49%. four weeks ago obama led among likely voters by eight. now to the latest gallup tracking poll which covers the last seven days. gallup has president obama back in the lead at 50 to 45. what a difference from the other polyp that's exactly where the race stood before the debate. romney had surged in the tracking poll. the two candidates were actually tied in the three days immediately after the debate, but the president seems to have wiped out romney's gains in the gallup poll. joining me right now are howard fineman, editorial director of the "huffington post," and the honorable michael nutter, mayor of philadelphia and presidential surrogate in this tough campaign. gentlemen, thank you for joining us. always go to the elected official fi

%. that is the lowest number in nearly four years. certainly some welcome news for team obama. a liberal economist cautioned that it is almost certainly a statistical fluke. john roberts is alive and st. petersburg, florida, where he will be reporting today. >> virginia has been hit hard by job losses in the coal industry. saying that the only reason why the unemployment dropped from 8.2% up to 7.8% is because so many people has dropped out of the work force. if it was a real number, it would probably be more like 11.5%. >> when i am president, the unemployment rate is going to come out, not because people are giving up and jumping out of the workforce, but because we are creating more jobs. i will create jobs and get america working again. reporter: governor romney continuing to have plans to raise taxes on wealthier americans. they would get hit with that tax increase and that cost as many as 700,000 jobs. again, the governor in abington. >> yesterday the vice president blurted out the truth. he said in fact that they do want to race taxes a trillion dollars. i want to create g